Authenticity and agile

I have been working with many teams throughout the years. And all these teams have actually succeeded in improving their way of working. So how do I support those teams to achieve that?

What is the definition of success? It is an ongoing discussion in many companies and it is not easy to measure success. For me it is in the end contributing to the success of the company, so achieving the goals we are aiming at. We as scrum masters and agile coaches typically indirectly influence that, since we are not directly working on the product.

We do however have an impact on the product through working with the teams and team members who are contributing to the product. So by helping them to add more value (effectiveness) or add more value at a lower cost (efficiency) are two main pillars. As been discussed in an earlier post, in a complex environment it is better to start with improving effectiveness before doing it more efficiently, since you need to build the right thing first.

Given my experience with many teams, I have discovered that providing the space for anyone to flourish is a great way to create a learning environment in which everyone contributes to becoming better (and faster). Research shows that we as humans typically create better results in that kind of environments. So for me, the human connection to each of the persons I am working with has the highest value. For that we need a safe space and that safe space need you to be at least very genuine about it. Throughout the years, I have observed that we humans decide much more on gut feeling than we think. So if you are not truthfully genuine about who you are and what you try to create, it will be very hard to create that learning environment.

And as always, context is key. Simply creating a learning environment within a team, is not a guarantee for success. The environment strongly influences the way we behave, so if the environment is not setup properly enough to support a learning environment, the effect with that smaller environment will be much less effective. So that is the reason why I always invite that environment in a likewise way, since I do understand the impact. And I do realize that the more distant I am positioned towards that environment, the harder it is to really change anything at all.

So a second factor I add, is to understand that environment and their needs. Most times that need has something to do with structure or control. As for anything that I do, I ask myself the question about its contribution to the value. And if that evokes reasonable doubt within me, I will share that feeling with the people involved and invite them to reflect on that. That does not mean that I am not going to take that action, since most times the request is a result of a longer chain, where the main reason for asking anyway typically is not with the person asking.

A good example of that is reporting structures. Where I do believe that valuable transparency is about showing relevant information to anyone involved, asking about velocity or strict tracking of forecasted deadlines or creating a board where impediments can be escalated, can all be signs of non-agile project management styles. So I do ask questions about that, to evoke that kind of awareness. On the other hand, providing insights on the added value and to combine that with the costs (return-on-invest), is a great way to show your impact.

Last but not least, you need a group of people who understand what agility is really about and is able to authentically bring that forward. If there are too many people in the context that do not understand this or not willing to listen or to change, it will be very difficult to enable change beyond a specific ceiling created by that.